CN111493355A

CN111493355A - Forming and transporting device for conveying and forming rod-shaped article groups and feeding device for feeding rod-shaped article groups

Info

Publication number: CN111493355A
Application number: CN202010068281.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: A·鲁特科夫斯基
Original assignee: International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp zoo
Current assignee: International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp zoo
Priority date: 2019-01-31
Filing date: 2020-01-20
Publication date: 2020-08-07
Also published as: EP3689760B1; PL3689760T3; BR102020002111A2; KR20200096146A; EP3689760A1; RU2020100242A; US20200245673A1; US10842183B2; JP2020125157A

Abstract

The object of the invention is a forming and transport device for conveying rod-shaped articles and for forming groups of rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry, comprising a transport unit comprising a transport carriage moving along a path and a transport tray fastened to the transport carriage and divided into two transport sections adapted to change their reciprocal position between an open configuration and a closed configuration, wherein a first transport section is fastened to the transport carriage and a second transport section is provided with a diverting element, the forming unit of the forming and transport device comprising a closing cam located next to the path, the closing cam having a raceway adapted to guide the diverting element in such a way that: the second transport section is rotated relative to the first transport section as the transport unit moves through the forming unit to change the transport sections from the open configuration to the closed configuration. The object of the invention is also a feeding device for feeding groups (G) of rod-shaped articles, provided with forming and transport means.

Description

Forming and transporting device for conveying and forming rod-shaped article groups and feeding device for feeding rod-shaped article groups

Technical Field

The object of the invention is a forming and transport device for conveying and forming rod-shaped article groups, and a feeding device for feeding rod-shaped article groups.

The present invention belongs to the field of solutions in the tobacco industry, and in particular to solutions for a machine for packaging finished tobacco products.

Background

From document US 2012/0090954, a device for treating objects is known. The device comprises a processing device which receives the objects from the feeding zone and supplies them to at least one work station by means of a transfer device. The processing device receives simultaneously a certain number of objects by means of the object carriers, respectively, in the following manner: the transfer device has a plurality of carrying elements for a plurality of objects held by the processing device, respectively. Furthermore, the sequence of movement of each carrier element on the transfer device is individually controlled such that the processing device removes a plurality of objects from the respective carrier element after passing the at least one work station.

From document US7165668 a device is known for transferring rod-shaped articles from a longitudinal conveyor, while such a device transfers the articles onto a transverse conveyor. Further, the apparatus includes a conveyor that receives articles from the longitudinal conveyor and supplies articles to the transverse conveyor, and the conveyor includes at least a first conveying element and a separate second transport element configured to be functionally combined with each other. In addition, the second conveying element is configured and positioned such that it rotates the article by a particular angle. Further, the second conveying element is configured and positioned to reduce a transport speed of the article.

From document WO2003051718 a cigarette packing machine is known, which comprises an endless drying conveyor having at least one substantially helical portion, an input station and an output station. This conveyor moves endlessly along a given path in a given direction of movement, so as to feed successive batches of cigarettes between said input and output stations. The device is characterized in that the drying conveyor comprises a series of coils, wherein a first coil extends in the direction of movement from the input station to outside the series of coils and is connected at the input station to the last-mentioned coil that runs through the output station.

From document EP1020357 a method for forming a group of rod-shaped articles is known, wherein the orientation of the rod-shaped articles in the group is determined. The rod-shaped articles are supplied through a plurality of channels, and the layers of the three-layer group of rod-shaped articles are put into pockets of an endless pocket conveyor, and the group of rod-shaped articles is transferred for packaging.

Devices and methods for rotating oppositely oriented rod-shaped articles are known from the prior art.

From document US2988199 an apparatus is known which uses double-sided V-shaped belts to rotate rod-shaped articles of opposite orientation. The V-belt is provided with wedges adapted to receive rod-shaped articles from the drum feeder, preventing the possibility of the rod-shaped articles falling out of the wedges. Due to the twisting of the belt on the driving rollers, the rod-shaped articles individually placed in the wedges are rotated on an axis corresponding to the direction of movement of the rod-shaped articles. The rotated rod-shaped articles are individually released from the wedges onto a tape feeder which forms them into a directed stream of rod-shaped articles.

From document US2929489 a device for cutting rod-shaped articles in opposite directions of rotation is known. During the cutting of the rod-shaped articles, two flows with opposite orientation are obtained. For uniform orientation, one of the belt conveyors is provided with a crossed transfer belt which enables rod-shaped articles arranged one after the other to be rotated by 180 degrees on an axis corresponding to the direction of movement of the rod-shaped articles, with the result that a common orientation of the two parallel flows is obtained. A similar solution is shown in document GB1015562, with the difference that instead of the transfer belt a small belt is used consisting of an internal element, for example a steel cable covered externally with a soft material (for example a rubber sponge that ensures the proper adhesion of the rod-like article and prevents its damage).

From document GB1519293 is known a device for rotating rod-shaped articles of opposite orientation. The apparatus comprises two separate belt conveyors on which oppositely oriented rod-shaped articles arranged one after the other are located. At least one of the belt conveyors is adapted to change the orientation of the rod-shaped articles by 90 degrees on an axis corresponding to the direction of movement of the rod-shaped articles, with the result that a common orientation of the two flows is obtained. The correctly oriented rod-shaped articles from each belt conveyor merge and form a mass flow in a further stage.

From document US4860880 an apparatus for rotating a multi-laminar flow of rod-shaped articles is known. The apparatus comprises a belt conveyor on which oppositely oriented rod-like articles are located. By controlling the speed of travel of the conveyor, a multilayer flow with oppositely oriented rod-shaped articles is generated and these flows are rotated by an angle of 90 degrees on an axis corresponding to the direction of movement of the rod-shaped articles by means of a suitably twisted belt. The correctly oriented streams obtained in this way merge and form a mass flow. During further transport, the mass flow may be rotated again to set the desired orientation.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is a forming and transport device for conveying rod-shaped articles and forming rod-shaped article groups for the tobacco industry, which forming and transport device comprises a transport unit, and which transport unit comprises: a transport carriage adapted to move along a path; and a transport tray provided with a plurality of transport slots adapted to hold the rod-shaped articles, and fastened to the transport carriage, and the transport carriage is divided into two transport sections, said transport sections being adapted to change their reciprocal position between an open configuration and a closed configuration, in which the transport trough lies substantially in one plane, in which the transport trough lies in two planes substantially parallel to each other, and the transport sections are rotatably connected to each other on a rotation axis corresponding to the direction of movement of the transport carriage, characterized in that a first transport section is fastened to the transport carriage, and a second transport section is provided with a diverting element, the forming and transporting device is provided with a forming unit comprising a closing cam located next to the path, the closing cam having a raceway adapted to guide the diverting element in the following manner: the second transport section is rotated relative to the first transport section as the transport unit moves through the forming unit to change the configuration of the transport sections from the open configuration to the closed configuration.

The device is also characterized in that the cam has a cylindrical form.

The device is also characterized in that the diverting element is a rotating roller.

The device is further characterized in that the body of the second tray is provided with at least one vacuum channel which is in fluid connection with a vacuum opening in the transport trough of the second transport section and which is directed towards the cylindrical surface provided with an opening for supplying vacuum during movement of the transport unit through the forming unit.

The device is further characterized in that the cylindrical surface is a stationary surface.

The device is also characterized in that an opening unit is provided, comprising an opening cam positioned in close proximity to the path, the opening cam having a channel adapted to guide the diverting element in the following manner: the second transport section is rotated relative to the first transport section as the transport unit moves through the opening unit to change the configuration of the transport sections from the closed configuration to the open configuration.

The apparatus is further characterized in that the transport units are adapted to move along the path independently of each other.

The object of the present invention is also a feeding device for feeding groups of rod-shaped articles, comprising: at least one feeding unit for feeding rod-shaped articles, provided with a roller conveyor; at least one forming and transporting device for receiving the rod-shaped articles from the drum conveyor, transporting the rod-shaped articles and forming groups of rod-shaped articles; a conveyor of rod-shaped article groups for receiving rod-shaped article groups from the forming and conveying device and feeding these groups to a receiving device; a transfer unit for transferring the group of rod-shaped articles from the transport unit to the magazine of the conveyor of said group of rod-shaped articles, characterized in that the feeding device is provided with the forming and transport device.

The use of a transport unit provided with a transport device that rotates by means of a cam ensures an increase in the efficiency of the production line. The applied solution allows to build a production line with a compact structure. The electromagnetically driven transport carriages and the rotating and closed sections of the transport trays allow efficiencies to be achieved that cannot be achieved with conventional endless chain based transport systems.

The forming device according to the invention allows to control the quality of the rod-shaped article in terms of the front surfaces of the two ends and the components of the article.

Furthermore, the forming device according to the invention eliminates the need to insert tobacco industry articles into conventional hoppers used in conventional packaging machines, which results in a reduction of the number of damaged articles in the pack and a reduction of the number of defective packs with tobacco products.

Drawings

The object of the invention is discussed in detail on the basis of embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a part of a production line in a perspective view,

figure 2 shows the roller conveyor and the transport unit in a simplified perspective view,

figure 3 shows the transport unit in a simplified manner in an open configuration,

figure 4 shows the forming unit and the transport unit in an open configuration in a perspective view,

figure 5 shows the forming unit and the transport unit of figure 3 in an open configuration from below in a perspective view,

figure 6 shows the transport unit in its open configuration in the direction of movement,

figure 7 shows the transport unit during a change from the open configuration to the closed configuration in its direction of movement,

figure 8 shows the transport unit in a closed configuration in a side view,

fig. 9 shows a part of two forming and conveying devices, a part of a conveyor of rod-shaped article groups, and two transfer units before transferring the rod-shaped article groups,

fig. 10 shows a part of two forming and conveying devices, a part of a conveyor of rod-shaped article groups, and two transfer units after transfer of the rod-shaped article groups,

fig. 11 schematically shows a part of a conveyor of packaging units and rod-shaped article groups.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a part of a production line comprising a packaging device 1 for packaging groups of rod-shaped articles 3 and a feeding device 2 adapted to feed groups G of rod-shaped articles 3. The feeding device 2 is provided with two feeding units 4, 4 'for feeding rod-shaped articles 3D (the rod-shaped articles 3D having a length of two rod-shaped articles 3), two forming and transporting devices 5, 5' for forming and transporting groups G of rod-shaped articles 3, and a conveyor 6 of the groups G of rod-shaped articles 3, which conveyor supplies the groups G of rod-shaped articles 3 to the packaging device 1, while transfer units 7, 7 'are used for transferring the groups G of rod-shaped articles 3 from the forming and transporting devices 5, 5' to the conveyor 6 of the groups G. The further description relates to such a production line as shown in fig. 1 and a production line provided with only one feeding unit 4, one forming and transporting device 5, a conveyor 6 of groups G of rod-shaped articles 3 and a packaging device 1.

The feeding unit 4 is provided with a hopper 8 to which a channel 8A supplying rod-shaped articles 3D is attached from above or from the side. The channel 8A may be positioned vertically or obliquely with respect to the vertical direction. The rod-shaped articles 3D fed to the hopper 8 have double length with respect to the rod-shaped articles 3 transported by the forming and transporting device 5, 5' from which the formed groups G are fed to the packaging device 1. The hopper 8 is provided with walls 9, 10 (fig. 2), below the hopper 8 there being positioned a grooved roller conveyor 11 for conveying the rod-like articles 3D, the circumferential surface 11A of the roller conveyor 11 constituting the bottom of the hopper 8 (for the sake of simplicity, in fig. 1 the circumferential surface 11A is shown smooth). The rod-shaped articles 3D are transported in the tank 14. Immediately after the roller conveyor 11, a circular knife 12 is positioned which is adapted to cut the rod-shaped articles 3D transported on the roller 11 into two rod-shaped articles 3. For example, in fig. 2, the rod-like article 3D is shown as a double length cigarette cut into two individual cigarettes. The rod-shaped article 3D may be any other article, such as a double length multi-segment filter rod.

The roller conveyor 11 is fed from the hopper 8, but the roller conveyor 11 may also be fed in another way, for example from another roller conveyor to the roller conveyor 11. On the roller conveyor 11, the rod-shaped articles 3 formed by cutting the rod-shaped articles 3D are further transported in a trough 14, from where the rod-shaped articles 3 are transferred onto a tray 13 of a transport unit 15 of the forming and transporting device 5. The grooves 14 are grouped in sections 14A on the circumferential surface 11A of the roller conveyor 11, and the number of grooves 14 in the sections 14A is adapted to the number of grooves in the tray 13. The tray 13 comprises two parts and is made up of a first transport section 13A permanently attached to the transport carriage 16 of the transport unit 15 and a second transport section 13B rotatably attached to the first transport section 13A. The arrows show the direction of rotation of the roller conveyor 11 and the direction of movement of the transport unit 15 along the path 17. The

transport sections

13A, 13B, the transport carriages 16 and the path 17 are shown in a simplified manner, which may be shown otherwise in other figures. Fig. 2 shows two transport units 15, 15 ', while the tray 13 ' of the transport unit 15 ' has already received the rod-shaped articles 3, while the transfer of the rod-shaped articles 3 onto the tray 13 of the transport unit 15 has just started. The forming and transporting device 5 may be provided with a plurality of transporting units 15 moving along the path 17 independently of each other. In fig. 3, the

transport sections

13A, 13B are in an open configuration, they are positioned so that the slots 18 of the two

sections

13A, 13B are in one plane, while the diameter of the slots 18 is adapted to the diameter of the rod-shaped articles 3, and the axis X of the rod-shaped articles 3 substantially overlaps the axis Y of the slots 18, while the axis Y of the slots 18 lies in one plane k. The second transport section 13B is adapted to rotate about the axis 20 as indicated by arrow R. After rotation of the second transport section 13B by 180 °, the

transport sections

13A, 13B are in a closed configuration, the plane of the slot of section 13B will be positioned parallel to the plane of the slot of section 13A. The groove 18 is provided with an opening 19 which supplies the vacuum required to hold the rod-like articles 3 in the groove 18. Fig. 3 shows that the first transport section 13A is not filled, while all the slots 18 of the second transport section 13B are filled with rod-shaped articles 3. Openings 19 for supplying vacuum may be provided in both the first transport section 13A and the second transport section 13B.

In fig. 3, the second transport section 13B is located on the left side and adapted to perform a clockwise rotation R, seen in the direction of movement T of the transport carriage, the axis of rotation 20 corresponds to the direction of movement T, the transport section may be arranged in reverse, i.e. the second transport section 13B is located on the right side and rotated counterclockwise, fig. 4 shows an embodiment of the transport unit 15 in an open configuration, the transport unit 15 is moved in a direction T parallel to the path 17 just before changing to the closed configuration, while the second transport section 13B is on the right side, seen in the direction of movement T, as shown in fig. 1, the path 17 is shaped as a ring, i.e. the transport unit 15 is moved on a closed path, as seen in fig. 1, the transport section 13A, 13B of the transport unit 15 is adapted to change the configuration of the reciprocating position of the transport sections 13A, 13B during displacement of the transport unit 15 by the forming unit 25, the diverting element 15 a, 13B is provided with a diverting element 23, e. the diverting element 23, which may be positioned in the rotating contact with the transport unit 23B to be located in the closed path 24, as shown in the rotating channel 24, and moved with the rotating along the rotating path 24, the rotating track 24, the track 24B, the track 24, 14, and the track 24, and the transport unit 23, the rotating to be positioned in the track 24, and moved with the track 24, and to be positioned in the rotating to be positioned in the track 24, and to be positioned with the rotating to be positioned in the track 24, and to be positioned in the closed, the track 24, and to be positioned in the track 24, the rotating to be positioned in the track 24, and to be positioned in the rotating to be positioned with the track 24, the rotating, the track 24, the rotating of the transport unit 15, and to be positioned in the track 24, the rotating of the transport unit 15, the rotating channel 13, the rotating channel 13, and to be positioned, the rotating channel 13, the rotating of the rotating, the rotating channel 14, the rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, the rotating channel 14, and the rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, the rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, and the rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, and the rotating element 23, and rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, the rotating channel 14, and the rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, the rotating channel 14, the rotating element 23, and the rotating.

Fig. 8 shows the transport unit 15 after a 180 ° rotation has been carried out after the second section 13B has passed the forming unit 25, the rod-shaped articles 3 transported in the slots 18 of the

transport sections

13A and 13B being formed into a group G comprising two layers of rod-shaped articles 3. In the open configuration, the

movable transport sections

13A, 13B are positioned next to each other (fig. 6) so that the planes k, k' in which the axes of the slots of the two

transport sections

13A, 13B lie overlap. In the closed configuration, the plane k of the transport section 13A and the plane k' of the transport section 13B are positioned parallel to each other at a distance approximately equal to one diameter of the rod-shaped articles 3. Fig. 1 shows one transport section 15 filled with rod-shaped articles 3 and located before the forming unit 25, and one transport unit 15 in which a group G of rod-shaped articles 3 located behind the forming unit 25 is located.

The transport carriages 16 of the forming and transport device 5 are driven by means of an electric or magnetic drive which enables the transport units 15 to be moved independently of one another at different speeds. For this purpose, the XTS driver of Beckhoff may be used. Since the transport carriages 16 are moved independently of each other, it is possible to position the transport carriages 16 as shown in fig. 2, i.e. so that the transport trays 13, 13' are adjacent to each other, and to transfer the rod-shaped articles 3 from the roller conveyor 11 to the slot 18 continuously, i.e. without stopping the roller conveyor 11.

After passing through the forming unit 25, the transport unit 15 is conveyed to the following areas: in which zone the groups G of rod-shaped articles 3 can be transferred to the magazines 40 of the conveyor 6 of rod-shaped article groups. The pockets 40 are pivotally connected to each other like links. Successive transport units 15 carrying groups G stand one after the other on both sides of the conveyor 6 as shown in fig. 1. The three transport units 15 of the transport and forming device 5 and the three transport units 15 'of the transport and forming device 5' shown in fig. 9 are stopped so that the groups G of rod-shaped articles 3 held in these units can be transferred into the six magazines 40 of the conveyor 6, while the transfer is performed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement T of the transport units 15 and at the same time in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement P of the magazines 40. Transport unit 15-1 is positioned directly opposite magazine 40-1, transport unit 15-2 is positioned directly opposite magazine 40-3, and transport unit 15-4 is positioned directly opposite magazine 40-5. The group G in the transport unit 15-1 will be transferred to the magazine 40-1 by means of the pushing unit 41-1. The group G in the transport unit 15-2 will be transferred to the magazine 40-3 by means of the pushing unit 41-3. The group G in the transport unit 15-4 will be transferred to the magazine 40-5 by means of the pushing unit 41-5. In the transport unit 15-3, there is a group G containing defective rod-shaped articles 3. The group G will be pushed out of the transport unit 15-3 by means of the pushing unit 41-4, while the individual pushers 43 of the pushing units 41-4 and 41-2 are shorter than the individual pushers 42 of the pushing units 41-1, 41-3, 41-5, and the group G-1 pushed out of the transport unit 15-3 is not placed in the magazine 40-4. Transport unit 15 ' -1 is directly opposite magazine 40-2, transport unit 15 ' -2 is directly opposite magazine 40-4, and transport unit 15 ' -3 is directly opposite magazine 40-6. The group G in the transport unit 15 '-1 will be transferred to the magazine 40-2 by means of the pushing unit 41' -1. The group G in the transport unit 15 '-2 will be transferred to the magazine 40-4 by means of the pushing unit 41' -3. The group G in the transport unit 15 '-3 will be transferred into the magazine 40-6 by means of the pushing unit 41' -5. After positioning the transport units 15, 15 ' carrying the group G and after stopping the conveyor 6 of the group G, so that the transport units 15, 15 ' are directly opposite the empty magazine 40 of the conveyor 6, the transfer units 7 and 7 ' are activated. The transfer unit 7 transfers the group G from the forming and transporting device 5, and the transfer unit 7 'transfers the group G from the forming and transporting device 5'. Fig. 10 shows the transport units 7, 7' after transfer of six groups G to the magazine 40 of the conveyor 6, whereas the group G-1 containing defective rod-shaped articles will fall into a container, not shown, and will not be fed to the packaging unit 1. In fig. 9 and 10, the drives of the transport units 7, 7' are not shown. After transferring the group G to the magazine 40 of the conveyor 6, the transport units 15 are moved further on the path 17, with their

transport sections

13A, 13B in the closed configuration. After displacement by the opening unit 53 (fig. 1), which is provided with an opening cam 54 that will force the turning element 23 to rotate and thus the transport section 13B to move, the

transport sections

13A, 13B will switch from the closed configuration to the open configuration. The opening unit 53 has an opposite action to that of the forming unit 25. The opening unit 53 can be located either in the lower section of the path 17 as shown in fig. 1, or in the upper section of the path 17, i.e. after the transfer unit 7, 7 'or before the feeding unit 4, 4'.

Each forming and transport device 5, 5' is provided with a sensor 50 to inspect the rod-like articles 3 being transported transversely to their axis. The sensor 50 is adapted to receive radiation passing through the rod-like article 3 and is located above the path 17; a radiation source, not shown, is located below the path 17. Furthermore, the forming and transporting means 5, 5' are provided with

sensors

51, 52 to check the quality of the tips of the rod-like articles 3. The

sensors

51, 52 are located on both sides of the path 17, 17'. If a defective rod-shaped article 3 in group G is detected, such group can be rejected as described above.

The transport magazine 40 of the conveyor 6 is moved to the packaging unit 1. The transport box 40 is placed onto the transport wheels 60 (fig. 11). The conveyor 6 and the transport wheel 60 perform a rotary stroke movement. The transport wheels 60 are stopped when, for example, three filled transport boxes 40 are positioned directly opposite the packaging channels 61. The pusher 62 pushes the group G of rod-shaped articles 3 from the transport magazine 40 to the packing passage 61. After pushing the group G of rod-shaped articles 3, the transport wheel 60 is rotated at a determined angle so that the successive three filled transport boxes 40 will be positioned exactly opposite the packaging channels 61.

Claims

1. A forming and transport device (5) for conveying rod-shaped articles (3) and forming groups (G) of rod-shaped articles (3) of the tobacco industry, comprising:

a transport unit (15), and the transport unit (15) comprises:

a transport carriage (16) adapted to move along a path (17), an

A transport tray (13) provided with a plurality of transport slots (18) adapted to hold the rod-shaped articles (3) and which is fastened to the transport carriage (16),

and is

The transport carriage (13) is divided into two transport sections (13A, 13B) adapted to change their reciprocal position between an open configuration, in which the transport slots (18) lie substantially in one plane (k, k '), and a closed configuration, in which the transport slots (18) lie in two planes (k, k') substantially parallel to each other, and

the transport sections (13A, 13B) are connected to each other in a rotatable manner on a rotation axis (20) corresponding to the direction of movement (T) of the transport carriage (16),

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the first transport section (13A) is fastened to the transport carriage (16) and the second transport section (13B) is provided with a steering element (23),

the forming and transport device (5) is provided with a forming unit (25) comprising a closing cam (24) located in the immediate vicinity of the path (17), the closing cam (24) having a raceway (24C) adapted to guide the diverting element (23) in the following manner: when the transport unit (15) moves past the forming unit (25), the second transport section (13B) rotates relative to the first transport section (13A) to change the configuration of the transport sections (13A, 13B) from the open configuration to the closed configuration.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the closing cam (24) has a cylindrical form.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the diverting element (23) is a rotating roller.

4. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body (27) of the second tray (13B) is provided with at least one vacuum channel (28) which is in fluid connection with a vacuum opening (19) in the transport slot (18) of the second transport section (13B), and wherein the vacuum channel (28) is directed towards a cylindrical surface (31) provided with an opening (30) for supplying vacuum during the movement of the transport unit (15) through the forming unit (25).

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the cylindrical surface (31) is a stationary surface.

6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an opening unit (53) is provided, comprising an opening cam (54) positioned in the immediate vicinity of the path (17), the opening cam (54) having a passage suitable for guiding the diverting element (23) in such a way that: when the transport unit (15) moves past the opening unit (53), the second transport section (13B) rotates relative to the first transport section (13A) in order to change the configuration of the transport sections (13A, 13B) from the closed configuration to the open configuration.

7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transport units (15) are adapted to move along the path (17) independently of each other.

8. A feeding device for feeding groups (G) of rod-shaped articles, comprising: at least one feeding unit (4) for feeding rod-shaped articles (3D) provided with a roller conveyor (12); at least one forming and transport device (15) for receiving the rod-shaped articles (3) from the roller conveyor (11), conveying the rod-shaped articles (3) and forming groups (G) of the rod-shaped articles (3); -a conveyor (6) of groups of rod-shaped articles (3) for receiving said groups (G) of rod-shaped articles from said forming and transport device (5) and feeding said groups (G) to a receiving device; a transfer unit (7) for transferring the groups (G) of rod-shaped articles (3) from the transport unit (15) into magazines (40) of a conveyor (6) of groups of rod-shaped articles,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the feeding device is provided with a forming and transporting device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.